


Trauma Recovery

by KH310-S (Author_of_Kheios)



Series: Mer-Quarium [3]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, Gen, Lucy is so gentle, North as a giant squid mer, North recovers because of love, Orchid is not amused, They're so cute together, mermaid au, soft angst, soft romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-26
Updated: 2019-10-26
Packaged: 2021-01-03 13:56:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21180566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Author_of_Kheios/pseuds/KH310-S
Summary: An anonymous tip drives Elijah to send Allen on a raid. The traumatised mer they recover finally finds a home... if she's willing to accept it.





	Trauma Recovery

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Jukraft](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jukraft/gifts).

> Hello hello! Welcome to my corner of paradise~
> 
> It's been a while, hasn't it? I promise this series has not been forgotten. At the very least, Juk brings up a new idea every other day; I couldn't forget this series if I tried! XD
> 
> North's turn~ Y'all already know how it starts. Fortunately it ends well.

~

Humans and mer aren’t all that different. We all laugh, we all cry... We all suffer. And we all love. It isn’t uncommon for a mer to have PTSD if something happens that’s traumatic enough. And with the history between our species, it certainly isn’t uncommon for a mer to suffer irreversible trauma at the hands of humans. Most mer who do, don’t live long enough for it to matter. But a very rare few survive, and of those, even fewer still... they make it through the trauma. They find someone to care about. Someone who cares about them. They make it.

Dr. Joshua Kamski, PhD

~

“Down the hall!” Allen commands, gesturing at two of his men. “Check that room!” Two more. The last two follow Allen himself.

“Clear!” comes from the room.

“Clear,” Allen sighs, looking around in contempt.

“Got her!” Immediately, Allen and his men hurry back through the complex and down the hall.

“Watch out!” the partner warns. Allen enters the room just as a splash signals someone falling into a tank. “Jay!”

“Yang, stay back!” Allen orders, stripping off his vest and equipment and shoving it all at whoever’s closest. “Everybody back from the tank!”

Cool water envelopes him as he dives in, swimming straight down toward the man struggling against the thick, rubbery tentacles holding him. Allen grabs his arm and tugs at the tentacles, but it refuses to budge. It takes only a few moments to realise she’s not letting go, and he kicks back to the surface.

“The tranq, Peters; now!” Peters scrambles for the tranquilizer and tosses it at Allen, who snatches it and takes a breath, diving under again. When he reaches the feebly struggling man, he doesn’t hesitate to jab the needle into the nearest tentacle, shoving the plunger down even as a wet scream of rage and pain reverberates through the water.

Fortunately the tranquilizer is fast acting, and it doesn’t take much for Allen to pull the tentacles off, dragging the man back to the surface.

“Take him,” he orders, pushing the man up to the others. “Peters, Caldwell, get in here and help me get her out. Jameson, check on Drew and get him to a hospital if he needs it. Yang, Bryman, get the transport ready to go and make sure those bastards are still tied up; then get back here and help.” Without waiting, he dives back down toward the limp figure on the floor of the tank.

Less than an hour later, Allen can finally relax. She’s in the transport tank, Jameson and Drew are at the hospital for a few hours, and Bryman is driving.

“Didn’t think I’d be swimming today,” Caldwell sighs, scrubbing his head with a towel.

“It happens,” Allen hums, picking up a dry shirt from his bag and pulling it over his head. “How long till we get back to AquaLife?”

“Uh... Three hours?” Peters answers, checking the clock at the end of the trailer. “Yeah, just over.”

“Good. I’m taking a nap. Wake me if the mer comes up from the tranq.”

“You got it, boss.”

No one wakes Allen, and the trip back is uneventful. Elijah is waiting for them when they arrive, and he directs them to transfer the mer to an isolation tank where she can adapt to the water before joining the main tank.

“Allen, where we right?” he asks softly.

“Definitely,” Allen answers with a sigh. “They had an auction going when we raided the place.”

“Thank God we got her out of there...”

“You realise she’s gonna hate all of us, except  _ maybe _ Orchid.” Allen glances at the unconscious body settling on a bed of kelp and sponges. “She would have killed Drew no problem if I didn’t use the tranq; didn’t want to, but...”

“You did what you had to,” Elijah assures.

“I don’t like it, Kamski,” Allen scowls. “I don’t like hurting them.”

“You didn’t;  _ they _ did.  _ You _ might have saved her life.”

“Then why do I feel like the monster?”

“Relax, Allen; take the rest of the night off.” Elijah pats his shoulder in passing and heads for Orchid’s office.

~

A fist slams against the glass, and Orchid jumps. Turning a stern look on the glass, she moves her glasses from the bridge of her nose to the top of her head.

“Honey, you aren’t scaring me,” she says firmly. “Pound on that glass all you want; you’re in desperate need of help, and this is the only place in the world that you’re gonna be able to get it.” The mer snarls something in a foreign, unintelligible language, dragging her nails down the glass.

“Screw. You.”

“Calm down, sweetheart,” Orchid sighs, already used to the mer’s insults and hatred. “If it makes you feel any better, your physical health has improved enough that we’re going to move you to a bigger tank tonight. And this time you’ll have company.”

The mer stares at her, dark eyes narrowed behind the hazy halo of reddish-brown hair floating around her features. Slowly, she pushes away from the glass, dipping down into the corner of the tank and dragging bits of kelp around her like a nest. Then she curls her tentacles around herself until that’s the only thing visible.

Orchid sighs again and pulls her glasses back down into place to return to her paperwork. A few minutes later, a tap on the glass gets her attention. She glances over her shoulder to see the mer leaning toward the glass.

“Company?” It’s barely audible through the glass, but Orchid nods.

“We have two mer living in the facility at the moment,” she agrees. “A coral snake and an adorabilis octopus. You should get along well with him; he’s young, but sweet... Sweetest little boy I’ve ever met. Name’s W. He’s been raised here, you know. Elijah accidentally scooped him up as a baby when he stocked the tanks with wildlife.”

“...baby...?” Her voice is even softer, and she presses closer to the glass, one hand splayed against it.

“Mm. He’s still very young,” Orchid answers, leaning back in her chair. “Two years, now?”

“W...”

~

Elijah and Allen both show for the transfer, but keep well back on Orchid’s orders. No males are allowed near, only females, and Orchid herself does most of the work. Surprisingly, the mer helps, supporting much of her own weight and moving where directed. Once she’s in the tank, Orchid sits on the edge of it, talking idly to ease the mer into a sense of comfort. The mer listens for a moment, shifting as she adjusts to the water, then makes a clicking sound and sinks to the bottom of the tank, looking around.

“Is it even going to work?” Allen asks, just loud enough for Orchid to hear. “After what happened to her, is she even going to be able to recover?”

“That’s what this whole thing is for,” Orchid answers, not looking at him. “We take care of them, because no one else even believes they exist. I’ve seen a lot of battered girls in my time, Mr. Kelly. The ones like her, the ones who keep fighting and never give up... they’re the ones that get better.”

~

She’s still exploring the tank, getting a handle for the new surroundings, when a small head pokes out of a hole in the rocks. She stares, and the huge brown eyes stare back.

“Be careful, W,” a low voice trills in a familiar language, but a vastly unfamiliar dialect. She scowls at the masculine tone. The tiny one, W, glances back into the hole and then squirts out into the open. “W!”

He’s so small... She glides closer as he fumbles toward her, his tiny tentacles floundering, unable to quite work together. A smile quirks at her lips in response to his awkward determination as he makes his way within reach. She stretches a tentacle of her own to support him, adding another to adjust his posture and help him move more smoothly.

“Let him go,” the voice from before demands. She bares her teeth at the male mer across from her, a long snake with a handsome human half. It only makes her all the more wary; the handsome ones are always the worst.

“Back off,  _ male _ ,” she snarls in response, wrapping a tentacle around the little one and drawing him into the safety of her embrace.

“He’s just a kid!” the male snaps back.

“Exactly, so why is he with you?” she retorts without hesitation. “Fuck off before I show you why ten limbs are better than one.” Just as she’s about to punctuate the threat, small arms wrap around her hip, and she instinctively jolts away from the touch before realising it’s W. She looks down at him as he looks up, laying his cheek against her skin, and she melts a little.

Slowly, uncertainly, she lays her hand on his head, threading her fingers through his soft curls. He smiles and leans into the touch, and she melts a little more, smiling back.

“What happened to you?” the male asks cautiously, still watching W closely. “We heard the humans talk-” Her hiss of hatred cuts him off and he quickly lowers himself submissively, hands up in surrender.

“ _ Humans _ happened!” she sneers. “Just like they always do! Wanting to control things that don’t belong to them, to own, to  _ play with _ ... Those shit-guzzling land-walkers are the real monsters.”

“Watch it,” the male warns, glancing significantly at W. “Just because he can’t speak doesn’t mean he can’t hear.”

“Yeah, well, he’s going to have to learn eventually,” she huffs. “The world is full of bad people, and almost all of them are human. I would know... I spent the last five years  _ entertaining _ the worst of them.” The male’s expression shifts, saddened and sympathetic.

“...Well... It’s over now,” he says. “You’re safe here.” She scowls at him.

“We’ll see about that.”

~

“How’s she doing?” Elijah asks. If Orchid wasn’t used to his odd habits, she might have jumped. As it is, she gives him a dark look for startling her and closes the door firmly behind her.

“Surprisingly well, all things considered,” she answers. “I finally got a name. North. She gave up her old one and chose that instead. There’s no remaining physical trauma, and she’s bonded fairly well with W. Still glares and hisses at Martin, but that’s no surprise; the boy has a way of getting under your skin if you don’t already like him. Not to mention her aversion to men in general...”

“Unfortunately, that’s what happens when a girl is raped so often,” Elijah notes passively. “But she’s adjusting well to being around others?”

“As far as I can tell, yes,” Orchid answers, giving him the stink-eye for his blase attitude toward the mer’s trauma.

“Good.” Elijah hesitates, and Orchid sighs.

“Alright, spit it out; I know that look, and it never precedes anything good.”

“It’s not  _ that _ bad... I’ve been thinking about offering... educational tours.”

“Educ-” Orchid purses her lips, trying hard not to slap the moron upside the head. “How is that ‘not that bad’? You have a traumatised mer the size of a damn whale, a  _ baby _ , and a slippery little bastard who loves sneaking out of the tank to mess with the staff. And you want to invite  _ more _ people into the facility?”

“For educational purposes, woman,” Elijah repeats, already exasperated. “The world knows next to nothing about mers, assuming they even believe mers exist! What better way than to observe them in their natural habitat?”

“No-” Orchid takes a breath, calming herself. “That is  _ not _ their natural habitat, Elijah. Nothing you do can make a man-made  _ cage _ natural.”

“You think I should release them back into the wild?” he asks pointedly.

“No, I- You are putting words in my mouth, young man. I understand the need to keep them here; at least North and W, and Martin chose to stay, so that’s on him. But that does not make this any less of a cage. Confinement in a mental institution is still confinement. Don’t make it worse on them by turning them into a freak show.”

“It’s for educational purposes,” Elijah repeats again, more insistently. “To raise awareness. To let the public see that they exist, and to show them what happens when mers are ignored, abandoned, or abused. Think of the lives we could save by informing the public, Orchid; how many people out there have mers as pets and don’t realise they’re killing them? How many mers do you think get caught in fishing nets and the fishers merely throw them back into the ocean without any medical care? I want to do good for them; I want the world to know they exist. Is that so wrong?”

“...This goes against every moral bone in my body,” Orchid grits out after a long moment. “If I suspect for even one instant that this is damaging to their health, physical or emotional or mental, I will pull the plug so fast...”

“Understood,” Elijah allows, raising a placating hand. “I have already taken precautions, and there will only be two tours in one day, only one day a month. I’ve also hired a tour guide who knows some basic information about mers; Allen just got back to me with her background check, and she’s had some rather extensive studies in mythology. You’ll be filling in whatever she doesn’t know before the first tour, which is three months out; plenty of time to prepare.”

“And who exactly is my new student?” Orchid asks blandly.

“Her name is Lucinda Wellington, but she requested that we call her Lucy.”

~

Lucy sits slowly in front of the enormous pane of thick glass separating her from the blue-green water beyond. It’s a new tank, supposedly, put in recently because a couple of the mer kept escaping and getting caught outside the tank. There’s an above ground area, but Lucy likes it here better, where the dim lighting and the trickle of sunlight through the water makes it feel like  _ she’s _ underwater.

It takes a long time, but finally she’s rewarded; a shadow approaches, resolving into the familiar shape of her favourite mer. North.

The first time she came down her to sit and watch the mer, North rammed against the glass, terrifying her and chasing her away. After she calmed down, she returned the next day, and that time didn’t run off when North rammed the glass. Every day after, she came back, insisting on sitting through North’s temper tantrums until the mer finally gave up trying to scare her and simply sat staring at her through the glass.

This time is no different; North settles herself on the coral reef just inside the glass, watching, tentacles curled around her lower body. Lucy stares back, awed by the beautiful creature that deigns to let her observe.

Taking a deep breath, she does something she’s never done before; reaching out very slowly, she gingerly places her hand against the glass, not far from North, who tenses and shifts, ready to flee. Lucy holds her breath, waiting, hoping...

Seconds tick by, but North doesn’t leave. Then, after what seems to be an eternity, she leans closer and hesitantly places her hand against the other side of the glass, directly over Lucy’s.

A breathless, disbelieving chuckle escapes Lucy, and she smiles slightly, not quite sure that this is actually happening. North cocks her head, red-brown halo shifting across her features, and she leans a little closer, placing her other hand against the glass. Lucy mimics her, smile widening, and North blinks.

The faintest smile tugs at the mer’s lips, a perplexed look that Lucy hopes isn’t bad.

“Hi,” she says softly. “I- My name’s Lucy. I’m going to be a tour guide here.” North frowns, gaze narrowing suspiciously, and Lucy takes that as a sign that she can either hear or read lips. “Don’t worry; no one is going to get near you... I’m just going to bring a small group of people in one day a month and talk to them about mer. About you.” The frown turns to a scowl and Lucy hesitates, thinking quickly. “You don’t like humans... Would it help if I can in before the tours and tapped on the glass so you know when to hide?”

That earns a shocked look, and North pushes back from the glass, staring hard at Lucy with furrowed brows. Lucy stays where she is, letting the mer’s gaze penetrate to her core.

“I... I know what it’s like to be hurt,” she says gently, taking one hand from the glass and touching the back of her head, where a small dip and the ridges of suture scars are palpable even through her hair. “To be terrified of everyone, to fear that anyone might be just like  _ them _ ... I know what it’s like to not trust anyone, to want to be alone all the time. I don’t ever want to make you feel like I’m not one hundred percent on your side, okay? I’m on your side, North.”

North keeps staring at her. After a long time, her sharp gaze falls, expression perplexed and thoughtful, and after another moment, she turns and slowly retreats into the tank. Lucy lets out a breath and leans her forehead against the glass, eyes closing.

“...I’m on our side, North.”

~

A piece of coral is waiting beside the glass when Lucy goes to the tank the morning before the first tour. She falters, unsure how it got there, and goes to pick it up. It’s surprisingly smooth, about the size of her thumb, and a beautiful pale pink that stands out against the dark skin of her hand. She glances up at the glass and swallows a gasp to see North there, when she wasn’t a moment ago. The mer watches her closely, gaze flicking down to the coral in her hand, and Lucy follows the look, surprised.

“Did you leave this for me?” she asks, looking up to North again. The mer allows herself a slight smile, almost more of a smirk, and then gestures back the way Lucy came with a questioning look. “Oh, yes. The first tour is in about twenty minutes. I came to warn you if you wanted to hide.”

In answer, North places her hand against the glass and makes a soft, heartfelt chirping sound. Then she pushes away and vanishes into the tank.

Lucy stares after her for a moment, and then looks down at the coral. A warm smile spreads across her lips as she tucks the piece of coral into her pocket, and it doesn’t leave her face for the entire tour.

After everyone leaves, she lets Orchid know she’s going out for her lunch break, and heads for the nearest jeweller. Two hours later, she arrives back at AquaLife with a pretty coral pendant around her neck, and the smile has yet to diminish. When she goes to tap the glass of the tank and let North know that the next tour is about to start, the mer is already waiting for her. When she sees the pendant, however, her eyes widen and her jaw drops.

“Does it look alright?” Lucy asks, giddy, reaching up to finger the coral resting just below the hollow of her throat. “I wanted to do something special with it.”

North stares, touching her own chest with one hand and resting the other against the glass. Lucy steps in and places her hand on top of North’s, still smiling brightly.

“I don’t intend to ever take it off. If anyone asks, it’s a gift from my favourite mer.” She winks at North, whose jaw snaps shut, a faint dusky colour rising in her cheeks as she moves back. She can no longer look directly at Lucy, and it’s no surprise when, after a fidgety moment, she leaves.

~

The next month, the day before the tours, Lucy does something a little different. Instead of sitting by the glass of the tank to chat at North, she goes to the above ground area and slips into the employee zone ― after all, she  _ is _ an employee ― where she can climb carefully onto the rocks set up so the mer can lie in the sun if they like. There’s a faint trail of water across the rocks and back through the employee zone, which, she has no doubt, means that Martin snuck out again; despite having built this new tank and the above ground area in hopes of convincing the snake to stop that, hardly a day goes by that Martin doesn’t disappear from the tank for some time.

Lucy finds it rather amusing, particularly when poor Allen has to hunt him down and corral him back into the tank. Whatever Elijah is paying the man, it most certainly is not enough for all he does.

As Lucy lowers herself to sit at the edge of the water, her foot slips, and before she can do more than gasp, she's submerged. Startled, she reflexively grabs at the surface, but she's already sinking. Panic starts to set it, abruptly tripling when something wraps around her waist. Just as quickly, it vanishes as North pulls her closer, lightly touching her cheek.

A slow smirk curls the mer's lips.

"If you wanted to swim with me, you probably should have put on a wetsuit first," she says, voice warbling through the water. Lucy opens her mouth to retort, realising belatedly that she's still underwater. North snickers and leans in, pressing her lips to Lucy's.

Warm air floods Lucy's protesting lungs, and she relaxes, gripping North's arm. They exchange air for a moment, tentacles tangled around limbs, and when they separate, an intimacy settles around them, despite the innocence of the action; both females flush.

“They’re going to be wondering where you are,” North murmurs, tracing the line of Lucy’s jaw with a gentle finger. Without waiting for any sort of response, she shifts her grip on Lucy and goes up to the surface, pushing the woman up out of the water and then onto the rocks. A thrumming purr rumbles in North’s chest as she supports Lucy, making sure she can stand without falling back into the water.

Lucy catches North’s tentacle, holding it. For a moment, they watch each other.

“Next time,” Lucy whispers, “I’ll bring a wetsuit.”


End file.
